Rest In Pieces
by Storymaster Caith
Summary: while the demons are away, the human will fade. Left in the shadow of his former companions, alone and forgotten, Kuwabara Kazuma finds rest and understanding in the most unlikely of places. A series of one shots.
1. Lesser of Two Evils

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A/N: Hello, all, and welcome to Rest In Pieces, the Kuwabara-Toguro viginette series, written because these two need waaayyy more love than anyone wants to give them.. Warnings? I own nothing. That's all Shounen Jump, the lousy bastards. Further warning: This is a Kuwabara centered work. That means BASHING OF OTHER CHARACTERS (coughhieiyusukekuramacough) and if you don't like that, get over it. I've strong feelings about what those three did to Kuwabara in the Three Kings Arc and those views will become evident as time goes on.

As for the story, I've no real plans for this series yet. All I know is that each one shot (some will be connected) will focus somehow on either Kazuma Kuwabara, Aniki Toguro (the elder brother) and their developing relationship as characters over the three year period Hiei, Yusuke, and Kurama abandoned Kuwabara in human world.

Slash warning: While I don't plan to pair Kuwabara and Ani, my writing has been known to run away from me. Therefore I feel it prudent to mention that slash, whether implied or blatant, will be evident in some places in these stories. Bible bangers and irate parents, the exit is located at the top of the webpage.

Cultural/Name Note: Although Aniki in Japanese means "older brother" and isn't technically a name, Ani Toguro is never mentioned by a real name, in either anime or manga. It's easier for all parties involved if I merely call him Aniki. Any questions should be answered through continuing chapters, which may or may not have something to do with one another. Ready go. 

**Part 1: The Lesser of Two Evils**

Their eyes meet across the darkened street. The streetlights are bright, reflecting off the salivating teeth of the twenty D level demons who have made it through the new system without the right paperwork.How they managed to hunt both men down at the same time is anyone's guess, and yet here they are, ready and willing to slaughter and maim.

"What luck," the head ugly snarls. "A two for one deal!"

The tall, slim redhead allows a small smirk, his right hand lifting parallel to his body. Opposite him, the tiny man unclenches pale fists, spreading thin fingers in a claw-like move. Their eyes meet again, dark blue blinking at amber-gold.

No words are exchanged. It is mutually understood.

_The enemy of my enemy is my friend. _

It is brutal, it is bloody, it is quick. Blood of many animated colors oozes over the asphalt. Really, you had to feel bad for the pathetic souls. They didn't have a chance.

The redhead blinks at the small man, a hard orange glow slipping back into his spirit. It hasn't been very long, but somehow he isn't as terrified as he once was. He raises a single slim brow, stating without words, without surprise or fear,

_You owe me a rematch, Toguro. _

A soft giggle and affirmative nod, and his impromptu ally is gone. Only a memory of his golden eyes remain.


	2. Table For Two

**Part 2: Table For Two **

They blink at one another in the small café.

"We need to stop meeting like this," the tall redhead tells his shorter counterpart. The demon shrugs, flicking long, pewter grey hair over his shoulder. "I like the coffee here." He says. Once, the redhead would have thought his voice eerie, the scratch of fingernails on glass in the dead of night. Now, it isn't so much eerie as it is flowing, slowly, like molasses.

"Don't you have something better to do?" the redhead asks. His short companion shrugs, watching the order-screen with intense interest. "Not particularly."

It is quiet for a moment, and then the small man says, almost awed, "You've gotten taller, Kuwabara."

The redhead- Kuwabara-shrugs. "Genetics." He tells his worst enemy. "What are you gonna do?"

The clerk drops a paper bag on the faux-mahogany counter. Kuwabara picks it up, turns, heads for the door.

A pair of golden eyes watch him go, then take their coffee and sit in a small pool of sunshine at a table for two in the corner.

**_A/N: Ahh, gotta love akward resturaunt conversation._**


	3. The Lost Boy

**Part 3: The Lost Boy**

"You can't honestly tell me you aren't stalking me now." Kuwabara said, wiping blood from his neck, from the two tiny puncture wounds inflicted there. The unfortunate bloodsucker who inflicted them lay a few feet away ,the victim of fingers lengthened into razor sharp spikes.

"You never struck me as suicidal, Kuwabara." Toguro commented, glancing disdainfully down at his dripping fingernails. Fury, raw and righteous, had been burning on that same face when he discovered the vampire, arms wrapped around Kuwabara in a most intimate embrace. The human made to stand up, then decided against it as the world started spinning. He promptly sat back down, shaking his head.

"I'm not. Suicidal, I mean."

Toguro poked the corpse with an elongated finger, transformed into a stick. The stick-finger even included a little green leaf. It would have been hysterical if it wasn't so ridiculous. "Ew. Good thing he'll burst into flames come morning." He turned, giving the human an appraising glance. Kuwabara gulped.

"Liar." Toguro said.

For a moment Kuwabara was confused, then realized the demon was referring to his earlier statement. Something in the small demon's tone made Kuwabara bit his tongue.

"Should we, like, fight or something?" he offered helpfully. Toguro rolled his eyes.

"You're blood-giddy and have class in the morning, Kuwabara. I'm certainly not fighting you NOW."

"I thought honor was your brother's schtick." Kuwabara pointed out.

"Go home to your sister, Detective." And with that, the tiny metaphmorph turned on sharp heels and strode into the darkness. Kuwabara looked after him for a long time, knowing that even if he tried, he would never catch up.

**_A/N: Hey, we're finally getting somewhere! Hell, soon you might even know how Toguro survived the demon tree...maybe. If I feel like it._**


	4. Mansuit

**Part 4: Mansuit**

"I really should be dead."

"You're telling me."

The smaller man shrugged. "Well, it's like I told your fox-friend. I'm like a cockroach with a brain."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"Well, I'm sitting right in front of you, aren't I?" He sipped at his tea. "Although, to be fair, I'm more like a spider than a cockroach."

Kuwabara scratched his shoulder through the material of his black school uniform, shaking his bangs out of his eyes as he blinked at his new…acquaintance. "Okay, first you're a cockroach, then you're a spider. Can you make up your mind, shrimp?"

"Certainly. Tell me, Kuwabara, do you know how a spider molts?"

The redhead nodded. "The entire skin dries up and cracks open, and then the spider comes out all in one piece with a bigger skin to fit."

"Good to see that high school of yours is teaching you something."

"I still don't get what spiders have to do with the fact that you should be rotting your organs out in a demon-spawned tree from Hell."

The small man leaned forward, drumming long fingernails on the pristine white table. "It has everything to do with it. So you know how a spider molts. Think about that for a moment. Now, suppose that spider's skin was another spider? One arachnid living within another, controlling it. What would happen if the outer arachnid's shell split open?"

Kuwabara blinked.

He blinked again.

His face contorted into a look that would have been considered priceless, had any of his close friends been there to see it. As it was, the look greatly amused Toguro, who leaned back in his chair and steepled small fingers in satisfaction.

"Oh, gross. GROSS." Kuwabara said, shaking his head. "You mean you- you-"

"Molted Gourmet?" Toguro finished the sentence for him. "Well of course I did. You certainly didn't think I would stay in his body forever, did you? For heaven's sake, Kuwabara, I'm four foot ten! Do you have any IDEA how AKWARD controlling that oaf was? I was working with a far larger scale than I am used to. No, no, it wouldn't have been practical at all. Certainly not my most pleasant of molts, but it was molt or be stuck."

Kuwabara considered this, sipping his tea. Then he started laughing. Toguro raised a brow. "What's so funny?" he asked.

The human shook his head, his short red ponytail bouncing. "Oh, just the mental image of Kurama when he realizes that you duped him by shedding a mansuit."

Toguro shrugged. "What can I say, it wasn't my size."

_**A/N: And there you have it, that's how I fill that plothole. Woot, spider!Ani. **_


	5. Birthday

**_Part 5: Birthday_**

It had been one hundred and forty one days, twelve hours, seven minutes and twenty seven seconds since his three friends had left for the Makai, and left him behind. One hundred and forty one days since Kurama's kind green eyes had looked right through him and Kurama's calm voice said that he had no place by their side. One hundred and forty one days since the last time he had seen Hiei's back sliding away from him into shadows, probably for the last time. It had been one hundred and forty one days since he had punched his best friend in the face.

It was five minutes and twenty six seconds until Yusuke Urameshi's seventeenth birthday.

Kazuma Kuwabara sat on a set of familiar steps, looking out over the forest. Many, many feet above him, two chis were stirring; those of Master Genkai and her ward Yukina. He would climb the steps and visit, eventually, but not now. A sake bottle was held loosely in his fist. Kazuma didn't usually drink, not much- he'd bought aspirin for Shizuru too often, held her hair back one time too many. In fact, he could count on one hand the times he had gotten totally sloshed.

One.

"_I can't friggin BELIEVE you wouldn't forfeit the goddamn match!" _

"_You didn't tell me he was a DEMON, Urameshi!" _

"_I was undercover!" _

"_Bah, like that's an excuse. Pass the booze." _

Two.

"_I swear, you have the strangest luck of any human I've ever met." _

"_That wasn't luck, it was skill, and you know it!" _

"_The dragon had to finish him off for you." _

" _But I got the first KO! Besides, how many humans do you know, you socially inept shrimpboat?" _

"_Ones who know better than to drink this crap." _

Three.

"_We made it. I can't believe we made it." _

"_We did, though. All three of us." _

"_Kurama?" _

"_Yes, Kazuma?" _

"_..I'm sorry I scared you so bad. When I faked it, I mean." _

"_No harm done, my friend. For the record, you're a brilliant actor. Drink?" _

"_Sure." _

Four….

_"So that's it, huh? That's the end? You're just gonna throw in the towel and kill eachother because some demons came to call?!"_

"_Kuwabara, it's a bit more complicated than that." _

"_Like FUCK it is! You're gonna fucking kill eachother, damnit!" _

The sun was going down.

Kuwabara checked his watch.

Five…four…three..two..one…The entire bottle was downed in one shot. A feat, truely, but then again, when Kazuma Kuwabara drank, he drank with demons.

"Happy Birthday, Urameshi." He whispered.

_**A/N: PS- fuck you Yusuke. And Hiei. And Kurama. You bastards. **_


	6. Name

**Part 6: Name **

The question had occurred to Kuwabara as he walked home from the bus stop that took him to his high school. Running a hand through his ungelled hair, thinking about calculus and the periodic table and ghosts, a sudden epiphany had struck him with the absolute force of a baseball bat, or perhaps one of Yusuke's smaller rei guns.

He addressed it as soon as humanly possible, without alerting his older sister to his comings and goings. He hadn't told her about his newest acquaintance. Chances were she'd either kill him, or make him go to cram school THEN kill him.

"What's your name?"

A grey brow raised up as Toguro blinked at the human counterpart standing across from him. "I beg your pardon?"

"Look, unless you want me to keep calling you 'midget freak' and 'Toguro'.." Kuwabara shrugged. "You never told me your name at the tournament. You were too busy trying to kill me, and everyone else just called you Elder Toguro. And then afterwards you were baiting Kurama and getting stuck in a Hell tree, so I didn't have time to ask then, either."

"And that bothers you?"

"I make it a point to know the names of people who are out to get me, literally and metaphorically."

"And you assume I am out to get you?"

"It's a good assumption to make, don't you think?"

A small, perky mouth turned up in a slight smile- not a homicidal grin, not a creepy smirk, but an honest to goodness smile, and Kazuma Kuwabara wondered how many people could say that they had ever seen it.

"Aniki, Kuwabara. My name is Aniki."

**_A/N: And this is where that cultural note kicks in. 'Aniki' means 'older brother'. I know this. I also know that the entire fandom of Yu Yu knows him as Aniki (Ani) and changing that would be a pain. Besides, I like saying the word Aniki. It's fun_**.


	7. Education

**Part 7: Education **

"Well that's crap."

Kuwabara emerged from a scholarly fog to blink at his bed. Well, to be more specific, at the demon currently sitting upside down on his bed, using an elongated claw to turn the pages of a book being balanced on what was probably an intestine that had straightened itself out for the exclusive purpose of becoming a podium. He glanced at the title. Art Through the Ages.

"What's crap?" he asked guardedly. Ani, having returned all bodily parts to their necessary locations, flipped over and pointed at a picture.

"That's a urinal."

"Yeah."

"It's got a man's signature on it."

"Yeah…?"

"They're calling it ART."

"Well, Yeah."

"How, in the name of all that is holy," Ani asked, "Is THAT art?"

Kuwabara leaned over. "It's a satire." He explained. "The guy who made it was making it to make fun of other modern artists. Basically, he said that if he thought it was art, then it was art, and by putting his name on it he made it so. I think he hung a snowshovel on a wall…"

Aniki pointed to the offending piece.

"Yeah, that's it."

"So he didn't think it was art but he wanted to make fun of other people who made ridiculous art so he put his name on it and then it was art?"

"Pretty much."

"…what are they TEACHING you in those schools?!"

**_A/N: Modern art is crap. Okay, well most of it is crap. The piece Ani mentions is called 'Fountain' made in 1917 by a frenchman named Marcel Duchamp. Hardy har har. Oh, and Gardner's Art Through The Ages is a real textbook, but it's college grade. And english. Cut me some slack, I don't live in Japan._**


	8. Eldest

**Part 8: Eldest**

Shizuru Kuwabara can't say she approves of her baby brother's new acquaintance, especially after the last time they met. Each time she looks at the small demon, all she can see is her brother screaming in pain, and those few times she catches him without a shirt, staring absently at the pockmark scars surrounding his vital organs. Kazuma has nothing in common with him, SHE has nothing in common with him. He is a bad influence. But it is raining, and Kazuma isn't home, and he is waiting on the doorstop.

The conversation is lacking, but the coffee is hot, and it is when she is looking at the picture on the wall- the one from that trip to Kyoto, many years ago- that he speaks, in that eerie, empty-temple sounding voice of his.

"You care for your brother."

A statement, not a question. He is being direct. She is good at direct.

"Whoever hurts him will be dead before they know why." She says, taking another sip of her coffee. A chuckle, full of almost bitter mirth, brings her eyes back to the small wraith-like individual at her table. He handles his cup gently and carefully, in long fingers that would have belonged to an artist, were the world not so cruel.

"Such is the mission of elder siblings." He says softly, and his golden eyes are dim. "May you succeed where I miserably failed. Thank you for the coffee, Kuwabara-san. Tell Kazuma I stopped by."

Watching him go, his small shoulders hunched to avoid the rain, Shizuru Kuwabara realizes that, perhaps, she has more in common with Aniki Toguro than she really ever knew.

_**A/N: Oh, Shizuru. You kick so much ass. If it wasn't for Oto I'm sure Ani would love you. **_


	9. The Number

**_Part 9: The Number_**

Cellphones, whether Kuwabara liked it or not, had become an integral part of society. Thinking back, he wished Koenma had caught on to the idea for his spirit detectives; those compacts were cute, but the whole pink-flowered-mirror thing never went over too well for Kuwabara. Or Hiei. Or Kurama, for some reason, although one would think he'd be all over the flower thing. The only person the compacts didn't seem to annoy was Urameshi, and that's because he was always breaking his.

Upon his entrance into high school, Shizuru Kuwabara, in her infinite wisdom, had thought to buy her brother a phone. It was a flip-phone, slim and easily carried, cared for always, because loving big sister though she was, Shizuru never had time for morons who dropped their electronics in the subway. The phone itself was a shade of blue that almost matched Kuwabara's eyes. The dangly that hung off of it was a gift from Yukina- a tiny plastic mulberry tree.

There were a few key numbers in Kuwabara's phone. One was his home number, and his sister's cell phone. The second was the rarely-used number of a temple nestled in the mountains an hour or so away from the city. Yet another was the number for the student office. Anyone clicking through Kazuma Kuwabara's contact list would find nothing out of the ordinary, unless they counted the emergency numbers- 911, the fire department, the police. Then of course there was that number that dialed Eternal-Babylon, an exorcism service. There was even one labeled simply 'Junior'. Kuwabara hadn't had to call that one in a long time.

The final number in his phone, however, was the one that would give most people pause. It was another cell phone number, a completely ordinary seven-digit code. Dial it in, get a person's voice on the other end. At least, that's what one would think, looking at it.

"_Why the hell would I need your cell phone number?" _

"_Kuwabara, if I know one thing about you, it's that you tend to charge in where angels fear to tread."_

"_I don't know if that's a compliment." _

"_Just take it. And if you ever call without a reason I will kill you." _

"_Aww. You know, I'd almost think you're worried about me, Ani." _

"_I'm not worried. I just have dibs on ending your miserable life first. It would be a pity if someone else got there before me." _

That last number was labeled 'For Emergencies'.

**_A/N: okay, children, for those of you who didn't know, Kuwabara's last name means 'mulberry field' and is a part of an old japanese superstition, wherein repeating the phrase 'kuwabara' twice will fend off lightning._**


	10. Sunglasses

**Part 10:** **Sunglasses **

There is a pair of sunglasses in a room, in an apartment on the edge of town.

They are large glasses, black, mirrored, and slightly stretched with time; someone with a head far larger than any normal man had once worn them. A crack goes through one lens, a perfectly symmetrical line marring the uniform darkness of the glass.

The glasses sit on a small table, which is covered in an old, ratty blue cloth that once was, perhaps, a coat. The coat has been cleaned, but not mended, and holes, gashes, and suspiciously red stains tell more than many would want to know.

There is no picture behind the table, nothing to suggest that the glasses are all that remains of a small, broken family. Nothing about the glasses suggests that hours were spent digging through the rubble of a martial arts stadium. Nothing suggests the constant bleeding of fingers that reassembled themselves, time after time, as stones were thrown and wood splintered. Nothing about the sunglasses suggests that when they were found, all in one piece, they were held to a chest with a heart that beat slowly, like a demon's, while an older brother cried for his sibling.

The glasses are not moved. They are not touched, nor acknowledged. They simply are, and the apartment's inhabitant does not make a habit of showing them to others. Only one other person can confess to knowing what the glasses are, and what they mean. But Kazuma Kuwabara isn't so cruel as to ask Aniki why. He knows he will not get an answer.

**_A/N: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, those glasses NEVER would have survived the Urameshi-Toguro fight, but humor me, will you?_**


	11. Loophole

**Part 11:** **Loophole **

Aniki Toguro knew how to bend rules.

It was one of his strengths, really. Manipulation was in his blood and deception in his soul, and if he had a heart (which Kuwabara insisted on, although he could never pinpoint the wandering organ) then it was probably painted jet black with lies.

He was also officially registered as dead, which he knew just as well as the fuming demi-god sitting across from him at his small kitchen table.

"I admit to some confusion." He addressed the other man. "You bring people back from the dead all the time. Why can't you just change my status?"

Koenma was barely keeping himself from snarling. "Because you weren't really DEAD, Toguro," he replied. "And you KNOW it."

"Ah, but for all intents and purposes, I was out of commission, yes? Such sloppy work, Koenma, really. Make sure a person's expired before you mark it on their permanent record." Ani said, and his eyes were cold and calculating. "So. Because I am officially registered as dead there's a mile or so of red tape between me and your father's cheerleading squad, is that correct?"

"The SPIRIT DEFENSE FORCE," Koenma said, "Cannot touch you. That is correct."

"Intriguing."

"Don't act like you didn't know!" Koenma snarled. Ani blinked. "Really, princeling, your blood pressure," he said mildly. "Wouldn't want to wind up like Dad, now would we? Seeing as you're on such fantastic terms.."

"I don't know how you did it and I don't care." Koenma said, each word spoken like a death sentence, "But if you EVER go after humans, commit major felonies, hell, if you even SNEEZE I will hear about it, and nothing in all the worlds will save you from me."

"I'm so scared." Ani said with a raised brow. "You and that little bafukugan of yours. Really, Koenma, tell me, what's more important- one free demon or the end of the world?" He stood. "As you can see, there are no bodies in my walls, no heads in the closet, and no magic seals in the living room. Life is boring, and I have no interest whatsoever in attempting to make it interesting."

"And the demon slaying?"

Ani shrugged. "You're not the only one with enemies, Koenma. You know that."

"Good to know you're loyal to your own kind." The demi-god muttered. Ani chuckled. "My kind? My dear boy, I'm on one side and that's mine."

"That doesn't surprise me." Koenma made for the door. "ANYTHING, Toguro." He said. "And if I ever see your name mentioned in the same line as Kuwabara's in a report…"

"Feeling protective, Princeling?" Ani asked. "How sweet. He doesn't need your help."

Koenma fought the urge to growl again, standing in the threshold of the apartment's open door. "And how would you know?" He demanded.

Ani checked the clock on the wall. "Because he's due here in half an hour. Goodbye, Koenma." And with that, he shut the door in the sputtering Demi-God's face.

_**A/N: Poor Koenma. The son of the Judge of Good and Evil and he doesn't even have executive authority.**_


	12. Mirage

**Part** **12: Mirage**

It has been a long time since he's held this much power within. His entire body burns. Reiki fills every cell, every core, and every miniscule thread of his very being, orange and hot.

"_You need to stop fighting them, Kuwabara." _

"_I'll never stop fighting them! I'll never stop fighting him…without him, what am I?!" _

"_You're a person. You're a being. What more do you need?" _

"_I don't know. I don't…I don't fucking KNOW!" _

"…_then fight them, if it's what you need. Fight them if it's what you want." _

A tan hand touches his shoulder. He grabs it, lifting and hurling in an over the shoulder throw. The next attack is swifter, coming in lower; he dodges it, barely, and strikes out with the reiki-charged palm of his hand, and a low hiss tells him he struck flesh. The rhythmic sound of a whip slicing through the air tells him to jump, and the startled gasp tells him that his sword has cut straight through it.

Three sets of eyes look at him- red, gold, and gentle brown. Three sets of haughty, self-assured eyes. The eyes of demons. Three backs turn.

_Don't you turn your backs on me, don't you DARE turn you backs on me!! _

He hacks. He slashes. He burns. He cheats, because cheating is better than admitting that he is always afraid, and when he is done, a voice that is not Hiei's, nor Kurama's, nor Urameshi's, says,

"Sleep, Kuwabara."

And he does, his head cradled in Aniki Toguro's lap, as two of the demon's three reiki-clones fade into nothingness, the visages of the Makai's most famous demons wilting away to nothing. The third stands there, looking at him, and Yusuke's face changes, shifts, grows. Oto Toguro advances upon his brother.

"No." Aniki whispers, and the clone fades away. Darkness falls, and Ani waits, as he has many times before, for the coming dawn.

_**A/N: Hey, we might actually be getting to the point where you'll know why I've stuck these two together. **_


	13. Past Lives

**Part 13: Past Lives **

It was midnight when Genkai opened the main sliding door of her secluded temple and found Aniki Toguro half-dragging Kazuma Kuwabara up the last of the granite steps.

The woman blinked a few times, inhaling deeply on her daily cigarette, and then flicked the dead butt to the side. Yukina, ever diligent, would pick it up later. She stepped down off her porch, approaching the demon, who had leaned Kuwabara against a tree near the entryway. Every few seconds a blue flash would engulf some part of the demon's body, and a wound would appear there; but black youki automatically filled in the damage. She paused.

He didn't look all that different from when he had been human, now that she was close. He was paler, his hair a little longer, but he still moved the same way when he stood and turned to look at her, and his golden eyes still reflected a barely concealed loathing that she had never understood.

"When did you grow a pair?" she finally asked.

He didn't answer.

"My wards are trying to kill you." Genkai noted with interest as yet another blue flash crossed Toguro's skin, this time cutting open his main artery, which sealed bloodlessly. Ani shrugged.

"They aren't the first things to try."

"You're supposed to be dead."

"If I had a yen for every time I heard that one…"

"Dead, Aniki."

"Last time I checked so were you. We're even. Now could you make sure this moron hasn't given himself any lasting damage?"

"Can't you?"

"Youki, woman, doesn't interact well with reiki, or I wouldn't be in your charming back yard while slips of paper on your stairs attempt to end my life."

Genkai glanced down at the slumbering Kuwabara, noting with some satisfaction that Aniki, face usually a blank mask, actually had concern flickering across his expression. She reached out with her reiki. "He's fine. He just needs some rest, that's all."

Ani nodded, rubbing absently at his shoulder as another quick blue flash sliced him open to the bone. He turned, preparing to once more descend the stairs.

"Ani?"

The man stopped. "Yes, Genkai?" he asked, not turning around, and his voice was tired.

"I'm sorry." Genkai said. "For everything."

Aniki Toguro smiled, and although the reiki master couldn't see it, she knew it was there. "I'm sorry, too." He said, softly. "But to be honest, I'm sick of apologizing. Tell Kuwabara I'll be in touch."

And with that he was gone, a whisper in the night air, and Genkai watched her lover's brother go, a slight prick in her eyes telling her that neither of them would ever really be free.

_**A/N: Okay, gang, the next three of (including this one) shall be interconnecting. I think. That's how I plan it, at least. **_


	14. The Morning After

**Part 14: The Morning After**

Kuwabara woke up at ten that morning knowing, for sure, two things. The first was that he was not in his room at his house. The second was that since he wasn't in his room at his house his sister was going to kill him.

"Interesting company you keep." Came a familiar voice, and Kuwabara rolled over to observe Genkai, kneeling on her customary pillow, her tea cup filled with sake in one hand, a cigarette in the other. Kuwabara blinked. He blinked again…and the night before came rushing back with a bloody vengeance.

"Oh, shit." He muttered.

Genkai rose a slim brow. "Oh shit is more than accurate." She said pointedly, taking a sip of her drink. "So, tell me, when did you stop killing demons and start doing community service with them?"

Kuwabara didn't answer. He wasn't sure he could.

"He is dangerous."

Kuwabara knew, better than most would think. Ani had torn through those demons like they were nothing more than red envelopes from New Year's. One would have to be insane to look into those glittering golden eyes and not feel primal fear.

"He will kill you when he gets the chance."

They had sparred yesterday afternoon, just before their daily sweep, in an abandoned parking garage, fit for city-combat. Ani had missed his heart, barely. The tiny demon had told him he wasn't trying, and he looked almost disgusted. Kuwabara had managed to take his arm off in the next pass.

"Doesn't that hurt?" he'd asked, watching as tendons rejoined and bone straightened out.

"I've had worse." Was Ani's reply, and Kuwabara knew just how much worse he had had.

"I'm still alive." Kuwabara responded to the old woman's statement half-heartedly as he looked around for his clothes. A cigarette pointed to the mostly-intact uniform in the corner. He stood up, indifferent to the fact that he was only in boxers, and began the arduous task of yanking his clothes on.

"You planning on telling me what all this is about?"

"No."

Kuwabara had never really forgiven her for what she said, when the other three had left. He couldn't, not unless- until they came back. That wasn't her problem; but it could be in short order.

She took a deep breath, smoke curling out of her nostrils like the last wisps of a forest fire in grey dawn. "Do you trust him?"

A pause, mid shirt-sleeve. The silence filled the room, but Genkai said nothing more. She waited.

"..Yeah. I do."

It wasn't said with confidence; more with awe, with the sudden discovery that made a person question their love life, their job choice, their sexual orientation. Genkai nodded, firmly, in that sage way old women do when they recognize the beginning of things that have the power to change the world.

"..Take care of him, Kuwabara."

The redhead looked at her as though she were crazy, but his voice was steady as he replied, "Yes, Ma'm."

_**A/N: Genkai is so awesome. I want her for a grandma. **_


	15. Those Who Fight

Part 15: Those Who Fight 

"No."

Shizuru looked blankly at her brother. "No?" she said. The boy nodded his head. "NO." he repeated, slightly more forcefully. Shizuru stood from her chair, her eyes narrowing. In years past, that had meant danger. Now it only served to incite the teenager more.

"Kazuma…" Shizuru began in a quiet voice. "We talked about this. You promised you wouldn't fight anymore. You said you were done."

"I lied."

"Kazuma.." Shizuru took a deep breath. "Why can't you let it go?" she asked bleakly. "Why can't you let them go?"

"Would you ask me to let you go?"

Shizuru blinked. "What?" she asked.

"If you left, for a really really long time, and you told me that you weren't sure if you were ever coming back, would you tell me to stop being a Kuwabara? Would you want me to take a new name and go to a new place, to become someone I'm not in some vain hope that I would forget all about the fact that I once knew you as my sister?!"

Shizuru stared. "It's him, isn't it?" she said. "He's done something to you."

"He didn't do ANYTHING to me, Shiza!"

"Then WHY are you coming in late covered in bruises?! Why are you skipping school for sleep?! Why are you suddenly reverting back to your old ways?"

"Because the old ways are my ways!" Kuwabara yelled, standing up. "Goddamnit, Shizuru, you know I want a normal life, you know I want to make you proud, but.." He close his eyes. "You're asking me to take myself apart like a goddamn tangram set and put myself back together in a way that pleases you. I can't do it, Shiza. I can't." He thumped his chest. "It's a part of me now." He said bleakly. "It always was. Take away the fight and I'm nothing. You know that."

"But you could be something," Shizuru began. Kuwabara shook his head. "No. I'd be a shadow of something, and that's even worse." He picked up his coat.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

"OUT."

The hard slam of the door echoed through the apartment. Shizuru slumped into her chair. There she remained, for ten minutes or more, before a familiar aura brought her head snapping up.

"He's right, you know."

She turned to glare at the kitchen window behind her. "Aren't you supposed to be out killing the general populace?" She snarled. Aniki Toguro, outside the window, shrugged, an odd contortion in a demon hanging upside-down. She lit another cigarette. "Leave." She said. "You're not welcome here."

"I was invited once, Miss Shizuru, and that's all I need." The demon said. "Besides, he is right."

"HOW IS HE RIGHT?!" Shizuru yelled, standing up, knocking her chair over. "He's going to go out and get himself killed one night and there will be nothing left but whatever Koenma has on a goddamn video cassette!"

Aniki slid into the window, executing an awkward-looking handstand to come up on the counter. He perched there, looking Shizuru over carefully.

"You're trying to make him into something he's not." Aniki said softly. "And he's going along with it because he loves you."

Shizuru opened her mouth, ready to fight- and deflated faster than a cheap balloon. "But he loves them more." She whispered bleakly. Aniki shook his head. "No. He merely shares more. Memories fade but the blood is always." He smiled. "I'm not one to be lecturing on sibling relationships. You and I both know that, but.." he leaned forward, steepling his hands before him.

"The time for your choice in your brother's life is over, Miss Shizuru, and you can either let him go, or cling to something that was never yours in the first place. If you're lucky, he'll merely see you as an annoyance he has to visit every New Year's. If you're unlucky…" Aniki sighed. "He'll use you as an instrument to his own self destruction and then leave you behind." He said bleakly. "And trust me. You don't want that."

Shizuru closed her eyes. "Life was never this complicated before." She said softly.

"You were never close acquaintances with demons before."

"Will he ever stop chasing them?"

Aniki couldn't lie to her. She deserved honesty. "No." he said softly. "He never will. All you can do is watch and hope that someday they turn around and see him."

Shizuru bit her lip. Aniki headed for the door. "I'll make sure he doesn't hurt himself." He said over his shoulder.

"You're just like him."

Aniki paused.

"That's why he trusts you, isn't it?" Shizuru asked, her eyes never leaving the scratched kitchen table. "Even though you've tried to kill him. You and he are the same. You're chasing someone too." She looked up at the small demon's back. "Watch out for him?" she asked quietly.

Aniki's minute nod was half-enshrouded in darkness. "Of course, Miss Shizuru." He said. "Of course."

_**A/N: Ani and Kuwa have a lot more in common than most people think, don't they? **_


	16. Crossover

**Part 16: Crossover **

"You KILLED HER!"

"She STARTLED me!"

"You just KILLED a SCHOOLGIRL!"

"I DIDN'T KNOW SHE WAS THERE!"

"Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not lying! She popped right out of the well!"

"…the well?"

"Yes, the well! You have EARS, Human, use them!"

"Damnit, damnit, damnit..does she have any ID?"

"Well, there's this thing…"

"It's called a School Card, Ani."

"I never went to school, remember?"

"Lesee…Kagome…Higurashi…well that's a Miyukidon bafuku…so she went to school around here, at least….WOAH."

"What…? Holy Buddha…what are those?"

"Sacred Jewel Shards, I guess."

"I thought all those were in Koenma's vaults."

"Looks like he forgot one…and someone had a hammer."

"Why break up a sacred jewel?"

"Why kill a schoolgirl?"

"GODDAMNIT, KUWABARA."

"Look, dude, I'm just saying.."

"You really think I'd just go around killing schoolgirls?"

"You might have some weird closet kink I don't know about."

"….I should kill you for that."

"But you won't. You love me too much-ACK! DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS BAD, ANI!!"

**-Five minutes later…-**

"What should we do with the shards?"

"Take 'em to Koenma, I guess. Don't wanna leave stuff like that lying around. Unless of course you want to go find another slightly psychotic spirit detective to gossip with…"

"You're never going to let that die, are you?"

"Nope. What about the body?"

"What about it?"

"Well you got her right through the jugular…"

"So drop her down the well."

"The well?"

"She came up out of it. Why not toss her back in?"

"This is so the setup of a bad horror movie."

"I don't hear you coming up with any other brilliant ideas."

"Can't you just burn her or something? Aren't you good at this?"

"Usually I didn't have to bother covering up my kills."

"So you do admit you did it on purpose?"

"…DEATH, Kazuma."

"Okay, okay, fine, the well it is…Umff..man this chick weighs a ton….okay…down the hatch…"

**-THUMP- **

"Bye, Miss Higurashi!"

"Don't forget to write."

"You think we should give her last rites or something?"

"You and your blasted honor code. Still have that exorcism service on speed dial?"

"Yeah?"

"So give them a call."

"Sounds like a plan. Hey, it's almost ten. Open mike night at the Modo."

"Oh, that's right. Mitarai was gonna read poetry, wasn't he, lord save us all…"

"Like you can talk."

"I know better than to write poetry."

"Liar."

"Shut up, Kuwabara."

**_A/N: No, Inyasha and Kurama are not related. They aren't dating. Hiei never accidentally fell into the well. Raizen and Inupapa were not friends. Kagome and Keiko do not do one another's hair. In fact, there is no logical correlation between Yu Yu Hakusho and Inuyasha besides the fact that one has a plot and an ending and the other is Dragon Ball Z for girls. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but keep your hanyous off my spirit detectives, got it? Good._**


	17. Brothers

**_A/N: Okay, people, an executive decision has been made that Rest in Pieces will be thirty one shots long. Don't swear me to it, I have little to no control. In the meantime, enjoy another extreme emotional roller coaster ride._**

**Part 17: Brothers **

"What do you MEAN you're not really brothers?!"

"SHHH!"

A hand elongates, covering his mouth lightly, as though its owner is afraid someone will hear. As though the taboo phrase has never before been uttered. Bright blue eyes look at him in shock and confusion, and the hand is slowly withdrawn.

"We're not entirely unrelated." The small demon explains, looking deeply into his steaming mug of tea, as though it held the secrets of the known worlds. "We're half-brothers. Same mother, different fathers. My father died shortly after I was born."

"So Oto's Dad was your stepdad?"

"..Yes."

There is something in Aniki's eyes that warns Kuwabara away, but the human is far too used to Urameshi, with his six foot emotional walls; Hiei, with his stalwart silences; Kurama, with his false smiles. Kuwabara has had practice with wounded animals.

"It's weird." Kuwabara begins, staring up at the slightly peeling paint of his bedroom ceiling. "I mean, thinking about you an' Oto as…well.."

"Human?"

"..Yeah. Hey, if he's your half-brother, then why are you both Toguro?"

"It was our Mother's name."

"..did he know?"

Silence.

"He didn't, did he."

Another long pause, and then.. "It doesn't matter."

"…why did you choose the way he did?"

"Because he is my brother."

Kuwabara knows better than to push the conversation any farther.

**_A/N: There is nothing to suggest that the Toguro Brothers are half-siblings, and it isn't an idea I strictly adhere to, but I felt that it would expand a little bit on the relationship between Oto and Ani if they weren't full blooded siblings. I mean, come on, how else do you explain the height difference?_**


	18. Lesson

**Part 18: Lesson **

"It's simple, really it is. Start under the crook of the jaw- left side, you're right handed- and over. Smooth as butter."

"How in the name of GOD is this effective?!"

"It's effective when you're GOOD at it. You gain speed, eventually. Of course you can hope for no practice and use it as a last resort…"

"I've managed fine before."

"Your fine is my skin-of-the-teeth escape."

"You never struck me as overly paranoid."

A rolled pair of golden eyes. "Whatever. Now give it a shot."

A sudden lunge, the burst of orange light heralding the appearance of a small, reiki-formed dagger. Large tanned hands gripping pale shoulders as that same orange blade sliced through the thin flesh of a bared neck. A boy jumping to the side, swearing loudly as his arm is covered in a scarlet red coating.

"Slow," croaks the dead body below him. Skin rejoins with skin as blood seeps back into an instantly repaired artery, eyes slowly leaking back to gold as fluids return to their rightful places. The teacher stands, no worse for wear, except for the scarlet stain, like a scarf, dripping ribbons down his pale chest. He blinks at his student. "Now you see why you aren't wearing a shirt." He comments.

"Jeeze, who'd think a guy your size would have that much blood?" the student mutters. The teacher laughs, and it's a giggling laugh, almost innocent if not for its malice; the student doesn't seem to notice. "You think I have a lot of blood?" the teacher asks. "You just wait. Try again."

So they try. And try. And try some more. The teacher changes himself, sometimes, into taller forms, wider ones, forms of a different gender. His student reacts to each change calmly, his movements growing more precise, more cold, until the final transformation, and the orange dagger stops not inches from the thin column of the neck of a pretty ferry-girl, her bright aqua hair pulled back in a ponytail, pink kimono floating.

The student pulls back.

"Cheap trick." He says, the quick smile he gives shadowed with bittersweet pain. The teacher smiles back. "Just making sure." He says, retaining his true shape, small and pale, with bright golden eyes.

The next time they have an 'outing', it's easier. No sudden brawls, no vast expulsion of energy. This time the student fights like the teacher- quick, quiet, shadowy. He remains clean because he has learned, disposes of the evidence because he has gained the knowledge, and when the night is over, he asks his teacher,

"So, did I do okay?"

"Kuwabara," Aniki Toguro says, stretching long clawed hands behind his head with a smile, "I should have taught you how to slit throats months ago."

_**A/N: Well, he had to teach him something useful, right?**_


	19. Dayjob

**Part 19: Day Job**

It was one of those things that had never really come up. In their time together, he knew several key things: His demon-slaying partner's phone number, apartment number, name. He knew a little of his past, just as his partner knew about his. It had never occurred to Kuwabara to ask what his companion did for a dayjob.

Kuwbara had been walking back from school at the time, meeting up and walking with a kid named Masao, who was one of the few punks willing to talk to Kuwabara, awed both by his GPA and his right hook. The smaller boy was talking about the new bartender down at Oblivion, a bar he frequented with a fake ID.

"Freaky guy," he said. "Wicked short, kinda looks like a chick. His hair's halfway down his back. I mean he looks real sketchy, but god-DAMN he can make a drink, you should see him move. It's like his fingers can turn all the way around or something."

Kuwabara paused, one flame red eyebrow raised. Masao took another three steps before he noticed the other boy wasn't beside him. "Oi, Kuwabara," he called. "What's up?"

"Masao?"

"Yeah?"

"This bartender- what color are his eyes?"

"I was just getting to that part," Masao chortled. "Gotta be contacts or something, dude. They're bright friggin yellow. Like a cat or something."

Three hours later, Kazuma Kuwabara sat down on a low blue-leather stool, blinking at the slim blackclad figure who blinked back at him from behind the bar.

"You never struck me as the type to mix drinks." He informed the demon.

Aniki shrugged. "What can I say, it's a hobby. And you have to admit, I've got the fingers for it." He leaned a little over the bartop. "So, stranger- what can I get you?"

Kuwabara smiled. "You are so shameless." He said with a roll of his bright blue eyes. "Blue Lagoon, no ice. And if there isn't a little umbrella I'm gonna throw a fit."

Aniki smirked. Kuwabara watched in fascination as the demon easily assembled the drink with the same amount of skill a professional bartender possessed. He considered crying 'cheater' but then reconsidered. Ani finished the drink and, with a glance and a flourish, stuck the little umbrella in the top.

"Order up." He slid the drink down the black marble countertop. Kuwabara caught it easily. Ani glanced down the bar just as the boy said, "Don't you have any new customers?"

"Thursdays are slow, Kuwabara. So, does your sister know you're out drinking?"

"Does your employer know you're secretly a murderous psycho?"

The nickname has less of a bite now. It is almost a term of endearment.

"touche."

"You bet your ass."

"Kuwabara, language."

Neither mentions that Kuwabara doesn't normally drink.

**A/N: Well, he doesn't capture demons anymore. What else did you think he could do? Teach kids? Dear God I hope not. **

**EDIT: I hated the way this chapter turned out. So I rewrote it. Hope that doesn't ruin anyone's day or anything.**


	20. Applications

**Part 20: Applications **

Aniki Toguro honestly liked Kazuma Kuwabara.

This epiphany came to him while he sat on the Kuwabara's well worn red couch, neck-deep in college applications and financial aid forms. The human kneeling at the table in front of him sitting was tapping a pencil against his surprisingly feminine upper lip, muttering unintelligibly. Every once in a while he would bite the pencil's end, until a small ring of grooves appeared on the yellow-painted wood. His hair had gotten long; it hung in his face, no longer gelled back.

"Kuwabara?"

The human glanced up. "Yeah?"

For a moment Aniki considered sharing the gravity of what he has just come to understand, because surely it would change the very fabric of the worlds.

"This is the third time you've gone through that form." He said. The human swore, tossing his pencil over his shoulder in disgust. "I should have just gotten myself skewered at the Dark Tournament." He muttered. "Could you just kill me now?"

_No_, the demon thinks. _Not anymore._

"Your sister would kill me."

"My sister loves you."

"Your sister hasn't killed me in my sleep because I don't SLEEP here." Ani replied. Kuwabara nodded in good-natured agreement then sighed deeply. "Fuck tournaments. I'd like to see Hiei handle filling all this shit out." He muttered. Aniki Toguro shook his head. "He'd light the whole pile on fire, and then where would we be?"

"True."

Kuwabara smiled. "Thanks for sticking around, Ani." He said. "I think I'd go nuts if I did this by myself."

"You're insane already."

"Look, just because Koenma and Genkai seem to think I've lost it-"

"Well, what proof do they have to the contrary? You hang out with escaped criminals and regularly go on demonic killing sprees."

"Hey, they're usually trying to gut me first!"

"FOCUS, Kuwabara."

"Alright, alright! Geeze, you're worse than my sister."

The human bent his head over his piece of paper once again, giving Aniki time to gather his thoughts. Thus, Kuwabara didn't get to see the bemused smile sent his way. The deep sigh registered, though, and he glanced up again. "Ani, are you okay?"

"Cramped. You do realize we've been doing this for three hours?"

"Three HOURS?" Kuwabara checked the clock. "Oh, hell. You're right." He set his well-chewed pencil down. "I don't think Shizuru will kill me if I stop for a bit." He stood, cracking his long spine with a small, cat-like yawn. "I'm gonna get a drink. Want one?"

"Orange juice if you've got it."

"One massacred fruit for the midget psycho, coming right up."

Aniki opened his mouth, presumably to tell the human that at four ten he was an inch over legal midget height and thus had no affiliation towards the smaller peoples of the world, but the human was already working his way across the sea of forms to the entrance of the Kuwabara family kitchen.

This gave Aniki the time he needed to come to grips with what he had just realized.

_I like Kuwabara._ He let the sentence ring in his head for a few moments._ I consider Kuwabara a friend. I enjoy fighting alongside Kuwabara. I do not wish to upset Kuwabara. _

This wasn't the same as his time with Oto. Being with Oto had been an obligation, a well filled one. Being with Kuwabara was a choice, one he made daily. Aniki wracked his brain. Somewhere, he knew, he had once had friends; in the seventy odd span of his lifetime there must have been people besides his brother and Genkai that he knew and trusted, but those people were long dead, and his human memories weren't very reliable.

He was still thinking it over when Kuwabara reappeared, holding two glasses. He held one out, and elongated fingertips wrapped easily around it. The human took up his former seat, sipping at his drink. He glanced at Aniki.

"Ani? You okay?"

"What?" the demon asked, a bit distractedly.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

Ani shook his head. "Not..really. Kuwabara, are we friends?"

The human tilted his head. "Duh."

Ani blinked. "Duh?" he echoed.

Kuwabara snorted. "Obviously, we're friends." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If you weren't my friend you wouldn't still be sitting there." He placed his cup down. "If I wasn't your friend I wouldn't have gone after that bounty hunter with you last week." He looked up at the ceiling. "'course, Urameshi an' Kurama are gonna throw a FIT when they come back…Hiei'll probably just try to kill you."

"Because I'm THAT killable." Aniki rolled his eyes. Kuwabara smirked. "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking, that's my psycho." He said with a grin.

"Your psycho?" Ani echoed, disbelieving. Kuwabara continued to grin. "My psycho. My Urameshi, my Kurama, my annoying shorty. You're stuck with me for life, Toguro, get used to it."

Ani tilted his head, considering. "I think…I could get used to that." To someone who would stay.

"Good. Now help me remember what I did for extra-curricular in middle school, I'm pretty sure Urameshi beat it out of me."

"Does demon-killing count?"

"Nope."

"Damn."

**A.N: Well, Ani had to come to terms with it sometime. I mean damn, twenty chapters and he hasn't even tried to skewer Kuwa even a little tiny bit.**


	21. Trust Me

**Part 21: Trust Me **

Their backs were to a window five stories up.

"Kuwabara," Aniki said almost conversationally, staring at the seething mass of chaos demon in front of them, "Do you trust me?"

The aforementioned human, glowing sword held upright in a guard position, glared at his friend- as well as he could through the blood dripping from the cut on his forehead. "Is this really a good time?" he asked, strained. The demon surged forward a little more, shrieking against the groaning spell wards keeping it in place.

"Actually, it's the perfect time." Aniki retorted, his claw-fingers curled.

"Are you insane?!" Kuwabara hissed, wincing at the sound as one of the spell slips tore.

"Answer the damn question, Kuwabara!" Aniki snapped, his golden eyes still focused on the shadowy goop that surged through the barrier.

"Fine!" the human exclaimed, firing up his aura, eyes going orange with reiki. "Fine, I trust you!"

"Then JUMP."

And that was all Kazuma Kuwabara heard before his back hit the glass of the window behind him with a sound remarkably like the hollow thump of a drum, except for the part where his stomach flew up into his chest. He opened his mouth- to scream, swear, do something- when he felt claws wrap around his shoulders.

He glanced up. An exceptionally large bird- a Makai bird, he realized dimly- hovered above him, grey feathers stark in the moonlight, golden eyes glimmering. Below him, in the five hundred feet between his shoes and the pavement, Kuwabara could hear the telltale hum of a rekai portal- a containment team.

"Holy fuck." He whispered, sagging. The bird said nothing, although it's gaze seemed rather reserved and irritated.

They flew for what seemed like forever, but Kuwabara knew it was only an hour or so. They touched down in a clearing, a few miles from his house, in the park where Yusuke had once fought a soul sucking Oni named Goki. Kuwabara toppled gently to the grass, sitting up as the bird landed, back to him, becoming once more a small, easily irritated demon. Kuwabara stood on slightly wobbly legs, easing his way over to the crouching Toguro.

"You okay?" he asked.

Aniki nodded. "Give me a minute." He said, wincing as his 'wings' slowly straightened themselves out, regaining skin where once were feathers. "I'll be fine."

"Your arms look pretty bad."

It was true; Aniki's arms looked red, pained, as though he had the most severe of rug burns.

"You're heavy." The demon retorted. "And a makai bird is much, much larger than little old me."

Kuwabara decided to let that last comment slide. He didn't want to bleed on his uniform any more than he had to.

"You never told me you could become animals."

"You never asked."

"Aniki?"

"Yes?"

"The next time you ask 'do you trust me', you'd better be telling me what the hell the plan is."

"Yes Master."

"Oh die in a fire."

_**A/N: Okay, kidlets, so here's how it goes. Right now what I'm gonna post is a bunch of 'in betweens'- meaning stuff that happened between Kuwabara and Ani meeting again and Ani's realization that he considers Kuwabara a friend. Hopefully at some point I'll get to the end. For anyone who loves continuity, guess you're just SOL. Got anything you wanna see happen? Shoot me an email or a PM, I'm open for suggestions. Love ya bai. **_


	22. Human

**Part 22: Human **

Kazuma Kuwabara had always known, somewhere in the back of his mind, that Aniki Toguro had once been human. It was a part of the demon's past. He must have, at some point, had a human family, human friends; his life before the tournament that transformed him had not been dedicated solely to his brother. Yet any information from those days had never seemed really pertinent, not in the grand scheme of things. Whatever he had once been, Toguro was a demon now.

So it was with some surprise that Kuwabara learned why his newfound companion often fell dead asleep after their nightly patrols, comatose until he had to wake up for his part time job as Oblivion's bartender.

"I was anemic as a human." He had explained, in his slightly spine-tingling voice. "Not terribly. But enough. After any major fight I often dropped right off. Oto carrying me started then, I think. It's not so much unlike that stunt Hiei pulls with the dragon, only it happens much more often to me."

That was, of course, why Aniki Toguro was currently asleep on Kazuma Kuwabara's couch, the demon's chest barely rising and falling with the softest of breaths. One long-fingered hand draped over his chest, the other dangling on the floor. Kuwabara knew, from experience, that if he were to enter a certain radius those fingers would become claws, reaching out for his vitals before their owner was even fully conscious. He was coated with a fine layer of dust, his clothing ripped; no matter how simple the skirmish Ani often came out of it looking as though he'd been through a war.

Logically ,the human should have been in bed; he knew he had school tomorrow, and would probably sleep through first period. But he couldn't tear his eyes away from his small companion, whom he had carried the last half block to his house, since he was practically asleep on his feet.

It occurred to Kuwabara that Aniki Toguro, in slumber, looked almost human.


	23. Demon

**Part 23: Demon **

Kazuma Kuwabara was human.

It was evident with every breath he took, to pump his much steadier human heart; in his simple worship of the sunshine and boundless optimism, which Aniki had yet to beat out of him, even though he had often tried. Human was the color of the blood he bled, bright red and tempting. Human was his scent, rain and cat and bamboo shoots. If anyone were to ask him, Aniki Toguro would be sure to tell them that Kuwabara was what he was- completely, depressingly, very breakable and perishable goods human.

That wasn't always the case, though.

Sometimes, after battles, before his slight fatigue set in, Aniki would see that look in Kuwabara's eyes.

Kuwabara had nice eyes; normally shaped, dark blue, although it was hard to tell sometimes in the night. There had to be gaijin blood somewhere in the Kuwabara line but Aniki never mentioned it. It was right after the fight was finally done, when they were staggering home victorious and slightly battle-giddy into the arms of a disgruntled Shizuru, that Aniki would notice the look.

It was a fire. It normally lay banked beneath the human's completely pristine expression, but after punches were thrown and blood was spilled it roared like the sun's first morning rays, projecting and daring and taunting any who came near with their win. _Come and fight me, _it said, _come and fight me if you dare! _

It was at moments like those, watching that cocky challenge slowly rebank itself, that Aniki Toguro thought Kazuma Kuwabara would make one hell of a demon.


	24. Rabbit

**Part 24: Rabbit **

"TOUCH MR. FLUFFYKINS AND DIE."

Kuwabara's cursedly curious hand paused over the long worn ear of the black velveteen rabbit, his eyes dilating as they met the pale red glass buttons of the stuffed toy's gaze.

"WHAT?" he asked incredulous, fear for his life momentarily assuaged by the announcement of his current object of curiosity's name.

"Back away from the bunny. NOW."

Kuwabara slowly stood up, holding his hands upright in the traditional 'surrender' position, backing away from the bed and the plush rabbit that rested on it. The sharp elongated claw that had, until now, been resting on the back of his neck slowly pulled away.

"Ani," he managed, "What the FUCK?"

Aniki Toguro, eldest of the Toguro Brothers and slightly psychotic demon, feared the worlds over for being heartless and cruel, rushed forward and scooped the rabbit up into his arms, cooing lightly.

"Did he scare you? I bet he did, the big jerk, can't stay out of other peoples' things… but it's okay, Ani's here."

Kuwabara stared.

Ani, who at that moment noticed that he was being looked at as though he had grown another head (and knowing for a fact that he had not done so), had the decency to blush before his golden eyes narrowed in a way that was becoming familiar. "Tell anyone and I'll kill you."

"…Mr. Fluffykins?"

"YES."

"Mr…Fluffykins?"

"What's so hard to understand about a name?!"

"…..FLUFFYKINS?"

"GET OUT! OUT OUT OUT!!!"

Kazuma Kuwabara had no time to protest as an elongated arm attached to an oversized hand pushed him out of the apartment's small bedroom and closed the door with a violent slam. Try a he might, Kuwabara couldn't open the door, and psychic wards from within kept him entirely in the dark.

Later, it would be explained that the venerated Mr. Fluffykins was the last true piece of a past that his companion remembered only in shattered fragments. The toy's illustrious history, from joining the elder Toguro in his crib to the fire-fight caused by his retrieval from Sakyo's repossessed mansion, would be explained in high detail.

But for right now, Kazuma Kuwabara attempted, and failed, to reconcile the fact that the most psychotic demon he had ever had the pleasure of knowing still slept with a stuffed toy bunny rabbit.

_**A/N: You can blame this shot entirely on AnnieO, an artist and fellow Toguro Brothers fan over on Deviantart. She drew a picture of Ani as a child, holding a stuffed toy bunny, who, through a series of unfortunate events, became the illustrious Mr. Fluffykins. Yes, Ani sleeps with a stuffed toy. We all have our issues. **_


	25. Transmission

**Part 25: Transmission **

There was a rose growing out of his front door.

Aniki Toguro blinked at the plant, both arms wrapped around brown grocery bags. He was fairly positive that he hadn't planted a rose in the wood of his door before he left for the store.

"I'm on the fifth floor." The demon muttered to himself, glaring down at the plant as though his gaze could fry it out of existence. "Who the hell leaves roses on the fifth floor? In a _door?_"

It was a painfully rhetorical question. Generally, Aniki was okay with plants. He enjoyed being outside, and trees were fun to lounge in. Shizuru grew the nicest azaleas, and he liked the color and variety of flora. But roses had held a special little enmity in his heart for a while now. Might have something to do with botany-obsessed demons and mind-nullifying trees.

He rolled his eyes. "Brilliant way to try and kill me, Fox." He muttered to himself. "It worked so well the first time."

He should have known, really. Kurama was never one to take a loss lying down. He had been willing to kill himself to off Karasu, for the sake of the Gods. Word that he'd survived must have reached Makai. Things like that _always _made it to the Makai.

Bah, whatever. Might as well get it over with…

Aniki glanced at his left hand. A sixth finger slowly grew from between his middle and pointer. He poked at the plant.

Nothing exploded. Nothing showered him with acid or attempted to bite his newest appendage off. Instead, the rose's bright red bud opened, revealing a small white scroll resting within.

Aniki's eyebrows rose to his hairline. He dutifully gripped the scroll, his sixth impromptu finger melting back into his hand as abruptly as it had appeared. The rose immediately whithered in on itself, turning into a dried husk and falling off the door to the carpet with a definitive _thump_.

Ani looked down at the dead plant for a moment, then shrugged and stuck his key in the door lock. He shouldered his front door open and headed to the kitchen, dropping his groceries on the table. Then he yanked a chair out and sat backwards in it, gazing down at the small piece of paper in his hands.

"Well," he informed the empty room, "in for a penny…" He unrolled the scroll.

_Touch him and die. _

"Touch him and die?" Aniki said to the empty room. "How frustratingly vague. Really, Kurama…" he sat back, staring down at the note. That Kurama had delivered it he had no doubt; it had all the trappings of an authentic yoko-sealed delivery, right down to the easy whithering of the plant. He could easily believe that the writing was Kurama's. It was prim and slanted elegantly, the writing of a well-learned student.

What bothered him was the wording. Kurama was anything but vague. Sneaky, yes, self rightious, yes, crafty, absolutely, but with a message like this his modeus operandi should be crystal clear. 'Touch him and die'…

"But I already HAVE." Ani said to his kitchen. He began ticking off his fingers, conveniently adding new ones as he spoke. "There was that chaos demon affair a month ago, had to shove him out a window for that. And then when he collapsed and I took him to Genkai's, that counts. He gave me a boost to the window when those half-breeds were using the warehouse and one of them warded everything. We had to use his car when we went after Mitarai's awol little water demon, gods was THAT a mess... I dragged him out from under the awning at the Modo last week..." Aniki huffed at the note on his table. "Geeze, Fox. Get a clue."

He gazed down at the note idly. While Kurama was certainly a serious threat, even to someone as frustratingly unkillable as him, there was no real way a second fight between them could end. With Yoko's vast experience and Ani's sheer stubbornness, they'd destroy half the Makai before either gained the upper hand in a rematch.

He tilted the note. This sounded remarkably like…a hollow threat.

The hollow threat that one friend would give to another.

"We aren't friends." He informed the room. "We _aren't. _We hate eachother's blasted guts!"

He had considered, sometimes, what would happen when and if the rest of the Rekai Tantei returned from their little foray into Makai. He knew that nothing would end well. If Aniki Toguro was anything, he was a brutal realist. There was no way, not with the past few meetings involving almost certain armegeddon and the consumption of human psychics. Aniki figured one of two things: one, a weird sort of truce would pop up, or two, he would conveniently disappear, never to be seen or heard from again. It had never once occurred to him that, perhaps, a truce wouldn't have to be forced.

Of course, all things considered, if anyone was going to believe he'd joined the good guys it was Kurama. After all, being trapped in a human body after millions of years as a scheming fox demon did some weird things to a guy's morals. The demon was a sucker for a good sob story- wasn't Reverse Urishima proof of that?

The note was practically smirking up at him from the table. Aniki made a face at it.

Kurama was an enemy he understood. He was underhanded and sneaky and experienced, and he liked catching his opponents off guard.

Well. This had certainly caught him off guard.

"Sneaky son of a bitch." Aniki said to the room, to the absent redhead. "Make some sense, will you?"

The paper winked.

A chance.

It hit Aniki like a ton of bricks. He was being given a chance, by the second person on the very short list of "People-who-could-kill-me-and-I-wouldn't-really-mind".

How generous.

He took the piece of paper and ripped it neatly in two, tossing it in the trash can. He glanced at the clock; he had twenty minutes before he was due at Oblivion. Enough time to change and ask Kuwabara just how forgiving his friend was known to be.

_**A/N: Well, Kurama WAS the only one who made forays back into the human world. It would make sense for him to notice that something was up. A really WEIRD kinda something. And as a cultural note, Ura-Urishima's properly translated name was Reverse Urishima, and he was a villan in a japanese fairytale, hence his team's REAL name, "Fractured Fairy Tales" (all warriors in that team, including Shishiwakamaru, were all the mistreated villans of ancient stories.)**_


	26. The Bet

**Part 26: The Bet **

"None of them are going to win."

"What?"

Convincing Genkai to allow Aniki Toguro onto her temple grounds had taken two weeks of groveling, two exhorbantly expensive bottles of sake, and an hour of mind-numbing wait outside a door while the two 'talked things over' (most probably with blunt objects), but watching the Demon Tournament on cable television was so worth it Kuwabara almost missed Ani's comment.

"What do you mean, they're not going to win?" he asked, one red eyebrow raised. "Come on, Ani, they kick ass and you know it. Hell, you've experienced it. No one there can beat them."

"They won't win." Ani repeated with a small shrug of his shoulders, looking down at his sake cup. "There's no way."

Kuwabara glanced from the television to the demon. "Dude." He said. "You are so in denial."

"No, I'm a realist." Ani retorted, downing the rest of his alcohol and refilling it with one hand. Kuwabara rolled his eyes. "A Koorime who tamed the Darkness Flame, THE Yoko Kurama, and the genetic son of Raizen. Name one competitor on that field who has a chance."

Aniki surveyed the many camera angles being shown on the screen. "If you're so confident, Kazuma, would you care for a bet?"

Kuwabara's bright blue eyes narrowed. "On what?"

"Fifty thousand yen says that Hiei and Urameshi fail miserably, and that Kurama wins by a single hair on his overshampooed head," here Aniki paused, "in HUMAN form."

Kuwabara flapped a large hand. "Bitch," he said with a grin, "You're ON. My boys don't bow down for NO one."

"We'll see, Kuwabara."

The tournament unfolded into a chaotic display of power and ambition. One by one, competitors rose and fell; Kuwabara watched with a small smile as Rinku failed miserably and Chuu declared undying love for his opponent. "Probably means it, the lush," he chuckled, eyes glued to the screen. He winced his way through the bouts of Jin, Touya, and Shishiwakamaru, mentally apologizing to them already for the hell Genkai, watching the same tournament three doors over, was going to put them through for embarrassing her.

Ani watched the entire thing with a stoic face, his fingers slowly stroking the hook of a pair of large sunglasses tucked into his front pocket.

The three fights in question played out in a spectacular array of explosions, energy blasts, and breaking limbs. As Kurama got knocked about Aniki ALMOST felt sorry; as a constantly-healing demon he knew just how much damage each hit was causing. Kuwabara watched in tensed silence as Hiei and Mukuro faced off, and was as motionless as a corpse during Yusuke's bout with Yomi.

"I should be there."

Aniki glanced at him. "What?" he asked, as though he already knew what was coming but wanted to hear it anyway.

"I should BE there," Kuwabara said desperately, looking from the screen to the demon sitting beside him. "They NEED me."

Aniki glanced first at the screen, then back at Kuwabara. "Yes." He said softly. "They do."

Throughout it all, Kazuma Kuwabara watched with a face of stone, his aura flashing and jerking, miniature orange lightning bolts playing around his fingers and eyelashes. Each hit caused a growl, each collapse a soft plead to _get the hell up you son of a bitch, _until he couldn't sit still any more, and pulling himself to his feet staunchly informed the screen that there was no way Urameshi was going to lose to a crippled demon stuffed full of self importance, even if he WAS the youngest Demon King in the past twelve centuries.

Yusuke lost.

Hiei lost.

Kurama won…by a hair, in human form. He lost in the next round.

Moments after it was announced that the demon Enki had won the tournament, Kuwabara hit the power switch, staring at the darkened screen with furrowed brows. Aniki watched him quietly, perhaps waiting for the signs of a meltdown. The human stared at the ceiling.

"You assholes." He said, and Ani knew he wasn't talking to him. "You complete and utter dickwads." Kuwabara's eyes travelled to Aniki. The demon stood up, stretching his long, naturally clawed hands behind his head. He glanced at the human, neck tilting to the side in a decided inhuman way as he studied his quiet companion.

"I can wait for payment." He said softly.

"They'll never win without me, will they?" Kuwabara asked.

"No." The demon replied, headed for the door. "They won't."

_**A/N: I beat this one around for ages before I finally decided I was done with it. I might still edit it later. But here it is- what, you really think Kuwabara would miss this tournament? But as Ani points out, even the all powerful need a little boost. Oh, and according to cannon Genkai trained our favorite Dark Tournament demons before the Kings Tournament. So you can bet Genkai's swearing in the other room. **_


	27. Tide

**Part 27: Tide **

He had taken up perch on a rock, about a quarter mile down the beach. Being on this particular beach could be considered detrimental to his health, but if he was quiet, he would be okay. After the tournament, he and Genkai had reached a truce, of a kind. She didn't try to kill him if he didn't try to kill her. It was a good deal, all around, and it gave him access to her vast, not-open-to-the-general-public property.

He liked the ocean. He had liked it before his unfortunate descent into it, during the tournament, and felt obliged to it now- had Sensui not discovered him, he would have continued to float around in the salt water, using the ocean's natural energies to restore his form. As it was, watching the ocean calmed him, and he enjoyed walking along the sand barefoot- he had never been one for shoes.

But this day, he had something far more interesting to watch.

Urameshi was back.

The sunlight hit the edge of his hair and Ani could SEE the power leaking off him, potent and gleaming. His first thought was abject satisfaction, long fingers brushing the sunglasses hooked on his coat.

_Look, Oto. Look what he's become. _

His brother would be thrilled.

Ani could see, with his demon's eyes, the slightest flinch of broad shoulders as the redheaded human he had come to know so well stared in what was probably complete and utter disbelief. Though his back was to Ani, the demon could see the face he was making; it was probably the same one he had on last week, when Kurama had broken the news that Hiei would probably never return to Ningenkai.

The look didn't last long, however. Aniki observed with a soft snort of amusement as Kazuma Kuwabara tackled his best friend, shouting and laughing.

"Moron." He said softly. "What are you going to do when he leaves again?"

It was something they hadn't discussed; another of their unspoken rules, like "don't touch Mr. Fluffykins" or "If Mitarai looks depressed, listen to his poetry." What would happen now, he wondered, if Urameshi did leave again, if he pulled away from the Ningenkai as the waves did from the shore? Would he come back? Would he acknowledge the passing years, the slow decay of his friend's human body? Or would he run from it like he ran during the first Tournament?

Aniki tilted his head back to look up at the sky. It was flaming crimson as the sun slowly sunk below the ocean; a color so brilliant that it rivaled any he had ever seen. What questions he had seemed far away; he didn't find himself worried about what would happen when Urameshi discovered him living, or he and Kurama met face to face. No, that wasn't what he felt at all, in fact…

He sat up, blinking. For once, his heart had settled back into where it was supposed to be; he could feel the soft beating, which had sped up. He knew this feeling; since becoming friends with Kuwabara, emotions were something he could grasp easier, put words to. But still… It had been a long time since he had been genuinely happy for anyone

_But,_ he supposed, biting back a small smile as Kuwabara forced Yusuke's head underwater, _If I wanted to be happy for anyone, I guess he's not a bad choice. _

Aniki hopped off the rock. If they wanted to find him, they would know; all they had to do was look. For now, it wasn't his moment to share, although it had been nice to see it. The tide was coming in, after all.

_**A/N: We're nearing the end of this story. As per promised, there will be interactions between Aniki and all three (up until right now) absent members of the Rekai Tantei. This came out sounding a little more emo than I had thought, but I like it well enough. **_


	28. Drink

**Part 28: Drink **

"Well I'll be fucked."

Aniki Toguro didn't even bother looking up from the glass he was cleaning. "Hello, Urameshi." He greeted. "Here to kill me?"

"Pfft." Yusuke flapped a hand. "Fuck no, where's the fun in that? I'm here for a drink."

Aniki put the glass down. "You do realize I'm not supposed to serve alcohol to minors?" he asked with a raised brow. Yusuke grinned. "And I know Kuwabara frequents this place like a hooker hangs out on street corners." The hanyou replied. Aniki rolled his eyes. "What'll it be?" he asked.

"Green Vesper, straight up," Yusuke said with a cheeky grin, "And replace the gin with something sharp, if you catch my meaning."

"A man after my own heart." Aniki replied, assembling the beverage with ease, replacing the gin with acid green absinthe, of the kind he was known to drink on a daily basis. Yusuke watched his every movement carefully, and when the alcohol was presented he looked up, catching the demon's eyes. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Oh, about three years, give or take." Aniki glanced around the bar. It was quiet; a Wednesday. He could see Hokuto in the back, cleaning off tables, but the girl kept her mouth shut about most things; she'd learned early that there was enough about her fellow employee that she probably didn't need to know.

"Why Kuwabara?"

Aniki blinked, turning his head to face Yusuke again. The hanyou put his glass down, brown eyes, for once, serious. "What?" Aniki asked.

"Why Kuwabara?" Yusuke began to bat the glass back and forth between his hands. "I mean, you tried to kill him three times, and then you hang out with him for over two years. Sounds like an obsession to me."

"Maybe I'm some sort of perverted sexual deviant." Aniki offered.

"Nah. You've had plenty of chances to rape him." Yusuke responded in the same droll tone. "And knowing Kuwabara he'd be too oblivious to what you were doing for it to even work."

"You're wrong."

Yusuke blinked. "Huh?"

Aniki shrugged. "You're wrong. About Kuwabara being oblivious." He said. "Then again, you were wrong about a lot of things." He leaned over the counter. "You're here alone, Urameshi, and that doesn't bode well at all. So, has he told you off yet, or did you run like a terrified child?"

This was suicidal. Ani KNEW it was. Yusuke was ten times his power, and he was sitting pretty on low S class as it was. Goading Urameshi was like poking an atom bomb with a stick.

But Yusuke didn't react violently. Instead, he started laughing. Ani recognized that laugh; it was the laugh of the defeated. It was the same laugh Kuwabara used after an all out brawl, the laugh that said, plainly, "we would have done better if they were here."

"Hit the nail right on the head, you slimy bitch." Yusuke informed the other demon. Ani smiled slightly. "I try. Hokuto?"

The black haired girl looked up.

"Mind if I go on break?"

She shook her head.

"Good."

Ani placed one hand on the counter and easily vaulted over it, motioning for Yusuke to follow him. The hanyou looked at him, shrugged, and took his drink. Ani led the way to the small back corner of Oblivion, where the private tables were sequestered.

"Now THIS," Yusuke said, slipping into the booth, "Is pretty sketchy. Ever raped anyone in here?"

"Not as of yet," Ani said, crouching with his chin on his knees, golden eyes locked firmly on Yusuke. "What happened?"

Yusuke shrugged, toying with his glass. "I said something and off he went." The demon's eyes went slightly misty, almost proud. "Man, was it something. I'm pretty sure he blacked out spiritual awareness to half the city."

Ani shrugged. "He's been planning it for a while. Things tend to build up." He informed the other demon.

"I just..don't get it." Yusuke admitted. "He knew we had to go. I mean he was an ass but he didn't stop us from going, and I told him I'd be back. I DID. Then we pop back over to Ningenkai and he's moonlighting as a demon slayer, pulling perfect grades at a high school, and hanging out with YOU. What the hell happened?"

"Life is what happens when you're making other plans, Urameshi." Aniki pointed out. "Or did you forget that you're not exactly kosher now?"

Yusuke blinked, confused- then a look of complete and total shock came over his face.

Aniki's brow rose. "You did forget." He said bluntly. "You damn well FORGOT that you're not a human anymore and he is. Dear LORD, how does Koenma WORK with you?"

"Hey," Yusuke said defensively, "That doesn't explain why you're suddenly on speed dial!"

"You've heard the expression 'misery loves company', haven't you, Yusuke?" Aniki said. Yusuke nodded. Aniki grinned, and it wasn't a nice grin at all. "I'm misery incarnate, Urameshi." He said smoothly. "Those abandoned tend to stick together, whether the one who abandoned them is dead, or just hanging out in another world for an extended time period."

Yusuke blinked. "So he's pissed that we left him behind?" he asked. Aniki threw his hands up in the air. "Hallelujah, he sees the light!" the demon informed the ceiling. "Of COURSE he was pissed you left him behind, you dolt! Do you have ANY idea how much more effective you would have been if you had him? You weren't working with a full deck and he knew it. Watching the tournament at Genkai's practically put him in physical pain. You wouldn't believe some of the things he called you."

"Well that's easy."

If it were possible for Aniki to facefault crouched in a booth, he would have. As it was, he gave Yusuke perhaps the most incredulous look the hanyou had ever seen. "What?" he asked weakly.

"We just take him with us next time." Yusuke stood up. "It did suck, not having him, despite what Hiei said, and it's not like any of our friends would go after him, not when he could poke them with a sharp object and send them spiraling into another dimension." Yusuke thought for a moment. "Would you like to come next time too?" he offered. "Makai's big enough, and you and Kurama could find a nice patch to brawl on."

Aniki blinked. "I'll…think about it…?" he replied.

"Okay. Just no mass murdering." The look Yusuke gave him next was hard. "Kuwabara trusts you." He said evenly. "And that means I'll trust you, loathe as I am. But if I EVER see you look at him in a way I don't like, well…" the hanyou grinned, showing off his new canines. "We'll play 'how many times can we dice the midget psycho'." Then he smiled brightly. "This was real insightful. I guess I should go apologize before Kuwabara rips the neighborhood apart looking for me. Good drink, by the way."

With that, Yusuke headed for the door, leaving enough yen to cover the drink behind.

Aniki couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.

"Lord," he said to the ceiling, "that boy is something else."

_**A/N: Getting Yusuke right was really hard in this chapter. After his transformation his personality got all whacked, and I tried to portray what he would think or do upon finding out that Ani and Kuwabara were hanging out. No regrets. Next up: Kurama! And for those of you nerds out there, yes, the Green Vesper IS in fact James Bond's famous martini, 'shaken not stirred', but I felt the joke a bit overused. **_


	29. The Pot and the Kettle

**Part 29: The Pot and the Kettle **

_**A/N: YAOI ALERT. –Waits while the pertinent parties flee in terror- okay, all, it's the long-awaited Kurama chapter. All I'm gonna tell you is no, the pairing isn't Ani-Kurama, although I've toyed with the idea. Moving on..**_

Late afternoon was, admittedly, Aniki Toguro's favorite time of day. The shadows were long, giving him places to hide; the light was low, perfect for his demon eyes. Those who went about their business went slowly, drunk on the setting sun. It was the perfect hunting time.

Apparently, he wasn't he only one who thought so.

He felt the Fox's aura long before he reached the vacant lot four buildings down from his apartment complex; Kurama was making no effort to hide himself. Ani paused at the opening in the lot's fence, casting a glance to the side. Kurama was standing, apparently contemplating the grass beneath his feet, or perhaps his brand of shampoo. It was difficult to tell.

"Fancy meeting you here." Ani said smoothly. A breeze slid about them both, ruffling their hair, its edges still warm from the sun. Kurama glanced up, and his emerald eyes were hard and cold.

"Got your message." Ani continued, turning fully and meandering into the lot. "Don't you ever use anything besides roses?"

Kurama thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "No."

Ani sighed. This conversation wasn't looking as though it was going to budge unless…

"Look," he informed the fox demon, "If you want to go all passive-aggressive and attempt to plan my imminent demise by standing there looking pretty you go right ahead, but I have things to do and unless you want to come home and watch me water plants and sort through shipping paperwork WHILE planning my imminent demise, you'd better start talking."

Kurama blinked, then chuckled. "You've been spending too much time with Kuwabara, Toguro." He said. "That's just the sort of thing I'd expect him to say."

"Yes, well, Kuwabara's got a natural talent at slitting throats, it turns out. Talk."

Kurama's brow rose. "Demanding little twit, aren't you?" he asked. "Very well. I'll talk. Stay away from Kuwabara."

This time it was Ani's turn to raise a brow. "Now that's a little sudden. Why on earth would you ask me to do that?"

"Because you're a dangerous homicidal psychopath."

Aniki couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Kurama took a step forward.

"I fail to see what's so amusing about this." He said evenly.

Aniki continued to chuckle. "Irony is lost on the great Yoko?" he said. "The great…homicidal..generally considered insane..Yoko Kurama?"

Kurama bit his lip. "That life is far behind me now." He said curtly. "I have left it."

Aniki straightened up. "And what makes you think I'm the same as I was?" he asked curiously. "You've seen Kuwabara. You've talked to him. He isn't lacking in vital organs nor is he in pieces, so I ask you, what makes you think I'm the same?"

Aniki walked further into the lot. "What can you feel from here, Kurama?" he asked suddenly.

The fox demon blinked. "Yusuke and Kuwabara are at Keiko's house." He said. "Hiei is prowling the Makai's edges. Mitarai is four streets over. Why?"

Aniki cracked his neck. "In the house behind us there is a man having a nightmare." The demon said. "Two streets back there is a child plagued by minor spirits. There is a woman in my apartment building who worries constantly that her husband is cheating on her." He smiled. "All fodder. All perfect prey. I could hunt them all and still be in time for work. And yet here I am, sitting and talking with you. I wish the child no harm; the woman has never done me ill. I have never met the man. Tell me.." Here Aniki took several more steps forward, until there was little more than a foot between he and Kurama, "What would you have done, had you met Kazuma Kuwabara as Yoko?"

Kurama didn't answer.

"It's arrogance on your part and forgetfulness on mine that you would think I hadn't changed, Kurama." Toguro said. "Three years is a long time in Ningenkai. What is it you want to hear? That I will not harm him? He's not been harmed. That I will not betray him? It's never come up. That I renounce my friendship with him so you feel better about pinning me for something you once were and neither of us are?" The demon's eyes hardened. "Certainly not."

Kurama contemplated the other demon for a while, then said, "How long were you thinking about this?"

Aniki shrugged. "Long enough."

"I suppose Yusuke has already spoken with you."

"You're getting slow, Fox. Came to work yesterday."

"I thought it best to wait."

"Disappointed he didn't kill me?"

"A little."

"You failed first."

"Don't remind me." This was said with such vehemence that Aniki almost put a comforting hand on the fox's shoulder- almost, because this wasn't Kuwabara, and the thousands of seeds stored in that red hair would likely wrap him in something as equally unpleasant as a sinning tree.

"If it makes you feel any better," Ani pointed out, "I still count it as a win in your favor. Eventually we'll have to have a rematch. Of course we should probably be in Makai when that happens…" he trailed off, having noticed something very strange.

Kurama's hands were clenched, in a way that was definitively NOT normal, not for his august majesty of cooled jets. The fox demon seemed to be sweating. His lip was still a bit red from where he had bitten it, and he was looking everywhere but AT Ani. And Aniki suddenly remembered where he had seen these reactions before.

"_So it's true? You really don't..?" _

"_No. Dear Lord, Brother, the woman has the temperament of a rabid badger. I wish you all the luck in the world. You're going to need it." _

"_She's not that bad!" _

"_Oh you just wait. Me, in love with Genkai. And pigs will fly." _

"Oh you have GOT to be joking me." Aniki said. "HONESTLY."

Kurama looked up, startled. "What-?" he asked. Aniki sighed. "You know I've always wanted to shatter your precious composure, but I don't think this is what I had in mind." Ani cocked his head to the side. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

There were precious few people in the world who could attest to ever seeing Kurama, in human or kitsune form, blush like a girl and begin stuttering, and it was a moment Aniki knew he would hold dear until the day he finally died.

"You ARE." Ani said. "How fascinating."

Kurama choked. Ani shook his head. "You've got to work on that 'cool and collected' thing you had going, Fox." He said. "It seems you've lost the knack." He stepped back. "No, I'm not in love with Kuwabara. Good lord, we'd kill one another." He turned, headed for the road. "Of course," he called over his shoulder, "if he's willing to go bar-hopping with a freaky-fingered psycho, who's to say he won't sleep with a homicidal kitsune?"

And before Kurama could reply he was gone, heading back down the road, whistling.

_**A/N: Right. So. Kurama. I like Kurama, even though he sometimes drives me up a wall. I deemed it necessary to embarrass him because 1) he's Kurama and deserves to be embarrassed, and 2) as much as I like Kurama I like Ani more, and I needed to get back at the Fox for sticking my Ani in a nasty tree. The pairing of Kuwabara-Kurama appeals to me (then again, I pair Kuwabara with almost anyone) and I think it's cute. That being said, any "OMG lyke they totally wouldn't DO that!" reviews should be emailed, not posted, so I can deal with your stupidity personally. Up next on Rest In Pieces: The indescribable Hiei! **_


	30. Nonverbal Communication

**Part 30**: **Nonverbal Communication**

Hiei, Aniki noted, had gotten faster. MUCH faster. Granted, he had been pretty damn fast the first time they had met, but his speed now was second to none, as proven by the fact that he had sliced his katana through the elder Toguro brother's neck in just under a millisecond.

Ani's head blinked up at Jaganshi Hiei from where it had fallen on his body's knees. "Can't say I was expecting that." He said, reaching down and grabbing his appendage, still connected to his neck by a few stringy bits of muscle. He placed his head firmly back on his neck, which gave him the double pleasure of stopping his arterial spray and getting to see the famed Koorime from the proper angle. "How have you been, Hiei?"

"Hn." The small demon wiped his katana and sheathed it with a single fluid motion. "It is true. You're unkillable."

"To a point." Ani cracked his neck, making sure everything was in the right place. "I haven't tried a nuclear bomb yet. They're dreadfully difficult to get a hold of and quite messy." He tilted his head.

"Kuwabara informs me you're impersonating an alien nowadays." He said dryly.

"Kurama tells me you've discovered his irritating little secret."

"It isn't so much 'discovered' as 'I've seen this somewhere before', but yes," Ani admitted, "I'm afraid I've spilled the beans." He stretched and stood up, glancing behind him at the closed door of Genkai's temple- left empty on shopping day. "Walk with me."

The Koorime made no noise, but it didn't surprise Ani that, when he headed out under the trees, he could hear the demon's soft footsteps behind him, leaping through the branches. They reached the driest part of the undead marshes in a little under five minutes. Hiei placed his cloak on a branch, his katana unsheathed, the white bandana yanked from his forehead. Ani neatly folded up his coat, putting the cracked sunglasses gently into a pocket. He cracked his elbows.

Hiei's first hit was hard, a direct slice at his head; a testing blow. Ani countered, clapping his hands together around the sword's blade and jerking, pulling the Koorime over his shoulder. Hiei ricocheted off a tree, sword held at an angle meant to slice open his side; Ani ducked down, sliding one leg out in a roundhouse kick that forced the other demon to ricochet once again.

"You're less pathetic than before." Hiei noted as his sword met the Toguro's forearm with a loud 'clang', the suddenly metallic limb causing sparks to fly. Ani smiled brightly.

"Coming from you, I suppose it's a compliment." He replied, pushing with sudden force against the sword, forcing his attacker back. Sharpened claws shot out and were countered with a flame-powered punch; both opponents flew back.

"You're faster," the grey haired demon acknowledged. "and quicker on the draw."

"Hn."

The sword was soon discarded, useless against such a malleable opponent, left imbedded in the trunk of a dead tree; the Koorime proceeded with fists. A double strike left blood on both cheeks.

"You didn't fight before." Hiei said, and Ani was going to explain that yes, yes he did, he was simply STATIONARY while fighting, but it's difficult to explain the nuances of long distance attacks while dodging a line of black flame meant to take out your torso, so he decided to save his breath. It wasn't worth it to explain that when hauling Kazuma Kuwabara out of street brawls, long-distance attacks weren't worth very much.

This wasn't a real fight, and both of them knew it; a real fight would permanently damage the entire landscape, and the unspoken rule of "Kurama gets first try" was still very much in effect. What it was, they weren't sure, but with every blow parried and every hit barely dodged, the Jaganshi and the Toguro had smiles that simply grew wider.

The movements became more intense, each blow causing shock-waves that downed trees and shattered rocks. The ground punctured and gave as Ani's mannequins clashed with Hiei's fist of mortal flame, and the Jaganshi's feet kept constantly in motion to avoid the Toguro's seemingly randomized movements.

"Butterfly style." The Jaganshi noted as they sprang apart for the fifth or sixth time. "The last master died over fifty years ago."

"No." Ani said, one hand tucked behind his back, the other forming five inch claws, "He didn't die, he merely.. transubstantiated. And conveniently disappeared."

They ran at one another. Ani ducked down, claws raking out and over the fire-demon's chest as Hiei struck his shoulder, the force of his blow shattering the Toguro's bones. Both were hurled back, landing and sliding a decent amount of footage before coming to a halt.

Ani jerked, standing up as his shoulder easily reformed itself. Hiei knelt, one arm held tightly over the deep gashes. He tilted his head and blinked all three eyes at the other man.

"You WILL take care of the oaf." Hiei said, in a tone that broke no argument, looking the other demon up and down.

Ani giggled in an eerily familiar way. "But of course." He purred, yellow eyes flashing as he gave a jester's bow. "Lord knows he can't look after himself."

Not true, not in the slightest, but it would make Hiei feel better about worrying, not that he'd ever admit to it. The Jaganshi gave a short nod, and when the elder Toguro looked up he was gone, all evidence of his presence in the clearing erased, save for the debris left over from their fight. Ani viewed the devastation with a groan, realizing just whose ass Genkai was going to ream over the mess when she and Yukina got back- and that was only AFTER she finished bitching about the blood he'd left on the porch.

"Bastard." He informed the empty clearing with a lopsided smile. "Goddamn bastard. I should rat you out to Yukina for this!!"

_Or just let Kuwabara do it. _He thought, a familiar and entirely eerie smile crawling over his face as he giggled a little bit more. _Yes, yes, that would be sweet indeed. _

_**A/N: HOLY HELL I'M SO SORRY! I didn't think it would take me THIS long to write this chapter- and it isn't even superlong... gah, I promise I'm not abandoning all of you! Hiei is a bitch to write, really. And of course he wouldn't be able to talk to Ani rationally, oh no... I don't buy into the 'Kuwabara never noticed that Yukina and Hiei were related' thing. Not. Possible. Not with his level of spirit awareness and the 'string theory'- you know, strings that show relationships connected to each finger? No, Kuwa was in denial. Again, apologies for the wait, I hope this was worth it- next chapter's the last! **_


	31. Rest In Pieces

**Part 31: Rest In Pieces **

There were few things that the former Rekai Tantei appreciated more than Genkai's occasional 'let's-get-together-and-celebrate-friendship-family-and-not-being-dead-yet" parties, especially since the old woman was a veritable well of awesome video-games, ancient stories, and a well-stocked sake supply. Even Ani had to admit that the old hag knew how to throw a party. He sat on the edge of the porch, watching with interest as an increasingly drunken Keiko attempted, for the fourth or fifth time, to beat the hell out of Yusuke, who continued to push her off, laughing.

In the corner a few of Kurama's 'associates', demons Ani vaguely remembered from the last Demon Tournament, were having a drinking contest, which the red-haired wind apparition was winning hands down, much to the chagrin of his blue-haired friend, who looked increasingly drunk and more and more like a cat whose dignity had been offended. When they had spotted Ani, sitting against a column smoking a cigarette (courtesy of Shizuru), they had immediately avoided him; now the demon was pretty sure he could dance sans clothing in front of them and neither would notice he was there.

"This," Genkai said beside him, "Is ridiculous."

Ani snorted. "Not as ridiculous as the time you tried to out-drink brother." He said, to which Genkai replied, with the smallest of smiles, "Which time?"

Kuwabara came to sit down beside them, his own cup of well-earned punch in his hands. "You'd think Hiei'd never seen a punch bowl before." He grumbled. To his left, Shizuru laughed. "You mean he's never seen a punch bowl with ice-cream in it before." She replied. From his perch a few trees away, pretending not to hear them and ignoring the festivities, Hiei continued to drink what was left of the punch with a long-stemmed ladle.

"I wonder if he'll eat the bowl, too." Ani half-murmured to himself. Kurama, heading over to the food table with Botan, shook his head. "don't give him ideas." He commented.

Hiei hadn't agreed to come to the party; he had been forcibly brought there by Kurama and stayed for the punch, or so he claimed, but all assembled knew better. Kuwabara had been thrilled; the first fifteen minutes had been spent in a verbal sparring match the likes of which Aniki Toguro hadn't heard in years, the insults ranging anywhere from 'shrimp' to explitives he hadn't even been aware Kuwabara knew.

There was a moment of mostly comfortable silence. In the six months since Yusuke's return from Demon World, things had straightened out fairly well. Kuwabara, mostly free from his demon-hunting obligations, was able to finish out his semester with no further absences, though a few late-night patrols still had him missing morning classes. Yusuke and Keiko were hip-deep in the planning of their wedding, the Mazoku taking every opportunity to hide from his slightly psychotic bride to be, even (to Ani's eternal amusement) camping out in the Toguro Brother's living room and hiding underneath the counter at Oblivion.

Kurama's secret still remained secret, although if Ani had to hazard a guess, he'd say a confession- complete with flowers and heart-shaped chocolates- would be coming soon. After all, Shuichi Minamino had never half-assed anything in his life.

The demon gazed out over the small group. Beside him, Genkai was a calming presence; he could smell the death on her, and she had seen the surprise in his eyes. He hadn't asked her how long she had left; she hadn't offered the information. She had merely smiled, and nodded, and sat drinking her sake, and Ani almost felt guilty that he hadn't known her longer.

He couldn't call these people friends, not yet; Kuwabara was a friend, but they were aquaintences. Perhaps someday, though, when he finished remembering how to be human, and when Kurama finally got over being one-upped, and when Hiei stopped watching his every move like he was some sort of poisonous viper. Aniki chuckled to himself. He really wouldn't have it any other way.

He took a deep, cleansing breath.

"Oi. Urameshi. You sober?"

The Mazoku glanced up at the demon from where he had managed to trip and fall on his ass while avoiding yet another of Keiko's drunken swings.

"Mostly," he said with a lopsided grin, "Why?"

Ani stood, stretching, the motion making his entire body arch like a cat. He reached for his lapel, pulling out from where they were hooked a set of dark sunglasses, marred with a single crack.

"think you can hit a flying target?" he commented.

Quiet stretched between them then, and Yusuke nodded, planting his feet wide apart, right hand already curled into a familiar position.

"Let her rip." He said, a wide, grim grin crossing his features. Ani nodded and, with all the finesse of an Olympic discus thrower, tossed the glasses high into the air, where they made a wide arc. For a moment all eyes glanced up, distracted by the sudden flash of sun off of lense; and in that instant a flash of blue tore the sky in two, and the ashes of Otouto Toguro plummeted without ceremony to the ground.

Ani let a small smile quirk his lips.

"Rest in pieces, you son of a bitch." Genkai said affectionately, and Aniki, for once in his life, had to agree.

**_A/N: Holy hell, it's done. –falls over—Thank you so much to all of you who have faved this story, reviewed, and were generally really awesome people. I'm sorry you had to wait so long for this last chapter (and I'm not making any promises; there's a distinct possibility that this might get rewritten in the near future) but for right now, I hearby declare this the end of Yu Yu Hakusho: Rest In Pieces. Stay tuned, because I doubt that I'm done with poor Ani, or Kuwabara, or any of the crew. Expect a maybe-sequel. If I can handle that. Thank you everyone! _**


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